The early verses of Jeremiah encourage me, which is a good thing since little else from his prophecy does. Apart from New Covenant promises, the book is filled with details of Judah’s rebellion, Jerusalem’s fall and Jeremiah’s interminable suffering, earning him the moniker “the weeping prophet.” But we must not miss the prophecy’s reassuring start. Jeremiah informs us that “the word of the LORD came” (1:2) to him in every season of his ministry. The people of Judah had divine guidance in Jeremiah’s day, even if they refused to heed it.1
God’s Word “came in the days of Josiah” (v2), days of recovery and revival. Jeremiah’s ministry began during Josiah’s reign, and he would have been heartened by the purge of idolatry, the expansion of Judah’s territory, the discovery of the Law and the reinstitution of Passover. These were exciting times even if they were short-lived.
God’s Word “came also in the days of Jehoiakim” (v3), days of hatred and hostility. Conditions spiraled downward with Jehoiakim on the throne. He hunted and executed prophets, such as Uriah (ch26). He attempted to arrest Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch, but not before carving up and incinerating the scroll they had prepared detailing Judah’s demise. You would think the Word of God would cease after being treated in such shameful fashion. But in surprising mercy, it kept on coming.
It came “until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah” (v3), days of wavering and weakness. Installed by Nebuchadnezzar II, Zedekiah was Judah’s last king before the sad and final exile of 587 B.C. He was a vacillating and compromising ruler, living up to the puppet king status he held. He requested meetings with Jeremiah but, out of fear of public opinion, refused to obey God’s message which came through His prophet. Still unheeded, the Word of the Lord kept right on coming.
It came “until the captivity of Jerusalem” (v3), days of degradation and devastation. The Babylonians laid siege to the city for a year and a half. Horrific famine ensued until at last the city walls were breached, the Temple and royal palace were burned, and the survivors were marched away into Babylon. Yet through it all, God’s Word continued to come through Jeremiah to His wayward and shattered people. The dramatic change of circumstances that came with each stage of Jeremiah’s ministry did not silence God’s voice.
So why am I encouraged by these first few verses of Jeremiah’s prophecy? They remind me that God will not leave His people in the dark even if the days are dark. Although we may be weak, compromising and rebellious, He will not abandon us. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself” (2Ti 2:13 ESV). What a merciful God!
We often pray when gathered together that we will hear God’s voice. Although no new word from Him is given today, when we open the Scriptures or place ourselves under their sound teaching, God’s Word, which unremittingly came through His prophets long ago, speaks again with fresh power. It might be a word of correction or strong rebuke, but it is nonetheless a word from the Lord. And we can rejoice that it keeps on coming.
1 I am indebted to Dale Ralph Davis, True Word for Tough Times (Wales, UK: Bryntirion Press, 2013) for his insights.
